Sleep experts don't advise reading in the middle of the night as a cure for insomnia, and I'm sure they're right, but occasionally in the wee hours, instead of fighting off the persistent demons of anxiety, which typically take the shape of loved ones in peril, I open a book and enter another mind — or another world.

Oak Park has charm to spare. So does River Forest, but let's start with Oak Park. We talk a lot about the architecture and design tours to highlight it, which is all well and good, but what about our "charmchitecture"?

On this, the most American of holidays in this, the most American of communities, we paraded our uniqueness. In the middle of a three-day weekend, in the middle of the year, straight up the middle of town, in the middle Midwest, in the middle of the universe (more or less), in the middle of busy and not-so-busy lives, we grabbed our banners and marched in meandering fashion, Type As with Type Bs, point A to point B, showing off who we are in all of our multifaceted glory.

Bill FitzGerald recalls, growing up, that when his family threw big backyard parties, his father would say, "Fire up the power washer," and that's what the crew at FitzGerald's Night Club, 6615 Roosevelt Road in Berwyn, have said, at least figuratively, every year for 34 years as Independence Day nears.

The 19th Century Charitable Association continues to evolve into the 21st century. The building has been undergoing upgrades in order to accommodate a wider array of programming. Amy Brinkman, vice president of programs says the organization — originally called the 19th Century Woman's Club — has a wonderful past but an even livelier future.